Meme Country: Social Media Reacts To Jussie Smollett Arrest

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA/CBS Chicago) – Social media users were not pulling any punches with Jussie Smollett as the bizarre story of the “Empire” actor allegedly staging a racist and homophobic attack continued to unravel this week.

Smollett has been charged with disorderly conduct for filing a false police report, claiming two masked men – one of them also wearing a red hat – shouted slurs as they assaulted him, poured a chemical on him and put a noose around his neck. He turned himself into Chicago police early Thursday morning.

“Smollett took advantage of the pain and anger of racism to promote his career,” Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson said at a news conference Thursday. “This publicity stunt was a scar that Chicago didn’t earn, and certainly didn’t deserve.”

Police say the 36-year-old actor concocted the attack on Jan. 29 because “he was dissatisfied with his salary.”

CBS Chicago reports that at a bond hearing Thursday afternoon, a judge set Smollett’s bail at $100,000. He put up $10,000 to be released from custody and ordered to surrender his passport. Smollett left the Cook County Jail, surrounded by a security detail, around 3:45 p.m. CT